William Malcolm Dickey (1907 - 1993)

Born 6 Jun 1907 in Bastrop, Morehouse, Louisiana, United States

Husband of Violet (Arnold) Dickey — married 5 Oct 1932 (to 1979) in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, New York, United States

Died 12 Nov 1993 at age 86 in Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas, United States

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Biography

William Dickey is Notable.

William Malcolm "Bill" Dickey was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees for 19 seasons. Dickey managed the Yankees after retiring from his playing career.

Baseball historians consider Bill Dickey one of the best catchers in all of baseballs long history. Dickey's record as a player/coach combined, his teams won seventeen American League titles and fourteen World Series and Dickey was named to eleven All-Star teams in his playing career. Dickey was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954.

Dickey played for the Yankees from 1928 through 1943. After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, Dickey returned to the Yankees in 1946 as a player and manager. He retired after the 1946 season, but returned in 1949 as a coach, where he taught Yogi Berra the art of catching.

Bill was the son of John Dickey and Laura Chapman Dickey. He was one of seven siblings and was born in Bastrop, Louisiana in 1907. John Dickey was a railroad worker and the family moved several times during Bill's childhood. John has also played semi-professional baseball in Memphis, Tennessee in his youth. Bill's older brother, Gus, played second base and was a pitcher in an Arkansas semi-pro league and his younger brother George "Skeets" was also a catcher for Major League's Boston Red Sox and Chicago's White Sox. Throughout his childhood, Bill was called by his middle name, Malcom.

Bill married Violet Arnold at St. Mark’s Church in Jackson Heights, New York, after the 1932 baseball season. They had one daughter in 1933. They divorced in 1979.

Bill was drafted and joined the US Navy in June, 1944. He served as a deck volunteer specialist with the US Naval Reserve and was deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations. He also served as the manager for the US Navy baseball team. He was discharged with the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade at the end of World War II.

While Bill was still an active player he also appeared in several Hollywood movies as himself in the 1942 film the Pride of the Yankees about the life of Lou Gehrig and again in the 1949 film The Stratton Story.

After baseball, Bill joined his brother, George, at an investment firm in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Both Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra wore #8 as Yankee catchers. In 1972 the Yankees retired that number, the only time a number was retired representing two men.

Bill died in 1993 from complications from a stroke.

Sources

• Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Dickey

Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture - http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=645

"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPY4-BDZ : 29 October 2015), Malcom Dickey in household of John Dickey, Campti, Morehouse, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 90, sheet 6B, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,374,531.

"United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDFR-8J5 : 14 December 2015), Laura Dickey in household of John Dickey, Kensett, White, Arkansas, United States; citing sheet 2A, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,820,085.

Baseball in Wartime - http://www.baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/dickey_bill.htm

"United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," obit for Violet Arnold Dickey - http://www.genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/0FF81EEDDCD82132?s_referrer=FamilySearch%3DFamilySearch%3DFSIndex%3DFSIndex%3DOT_FSrch_Index_1408_00%3DOT_FSrch_Index_1408_00

"United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKWG-NBPP : 16 September 2015), Bill Dickey, Hackensack, New Jersey, United States, 13 Nov 1993; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Record, The, born-digital text.